Time Will Change
by sokkr-rox
Summary: Kel decides not to go back to Tortall with her parents; instead she's staying in the Yamani Islands. When Kel finally returns to her homeland with Shinko, what happens? What does a certain blue-eyed sergeant have to do with anything? Kel x Dom later on. *Continued by Ortholeine*
1. Intoduction

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. All other things belong to Tamora Pierce.

Hi everyone! I'm not actually ready to put my story up yet, but I wanted to tell you that I_ finally_ have an idea, and am just planning things a little better before putting it up! I am also going to put a summary of the story as I have it so far:

Kel decides not to go back with her parents to Tortall; she stays in the Yamani Islands. When Kel finally returns to her homeland with Shinko, what happens? Kel wants to find a way to fit in, and there is a certain blue-eyed sergeant that might help.

I would also like to know if you would rather have shorter chapters, but updated more often, or longer chapters, but update less often. If you don't review and answer, you may not get what you wanted. In any case, there is always the chance that I will not choose what you wanted anyways, as I will be going with the majority of the readers.


	2. Meditation

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. All else belongs to Tamora Pierce.

**This is my first fan fiction, so please go easy on me. I'm not exactly sure where this story is going to go, so if you have any ideas, you can let me know.**

"_Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Ilane of Mindelan asked her daughter._

_ "Yes, Mother, I'm sure. I would like to complete my training as an imperial lady of the Emperor's Court!"_

_ "I understand," Ilane replied, "I just don't want to leave you."_

_ "It's alright, mother, I will train hard, and I will make you proud!"_

_ "I know you will, my dear," Keladry's mother sighed. "I am more worried about myself than I am about you."_

_ "Have a good voyage! Stay safe!" Oh, dear Mother Goddess, make sure they stay safe._

That had been over a year ago. Now Keladry of Mindelan sat among the other imperial ladies and meditated. She often had flashbacks during these times. After all, the whole purpose of meditating was to reflect upon your life, and the choices you made. Kel often wondered what her life would have been like if she had gone back to Tortall with her parents when she was ten.

Kel didn't have very many friends, but those she had loved her very much. She wondered if she would have had great friends in Tortall, or if they would have rejected her as these people used to. She had been a very expressive child, which made her an outcast among the Yamani people, who always hid their emotions behind masks.

When Kel had first come to the Islands when she was but six years old, she had contented herself with calling them names, such as 'Lump' and 'Cow' because they expressed their feelings so little. Kel herself had been an outcast, for her face could be read like an open book.

The Yamanis rejected her, yet she soon learned to school her features into calmness. She always imagined a calm, cool lake where no wind blew. This was how she imagined herself, when she felt like she would break down. She often felt this way, as if a dam inside her would break down and wash all of her control away.

When foreigners came, they thought that the Yamanis felt nothing, as they could not see it. Little did they know, the Yamanis usually felt more, because it was all bottled up inside, and had no way to get out, unless you let it.

Before her parents left, Kel would often cry in the safety of their rooms, as her parents understood. They felt that no child should have to feel rejected and closed all of the time, though they were forcing it on their own child.

After they left, Kel searched for ways in which she could let everything out without anyone knowing. She would try and cry in her room, but it didn't hold the same level of comfort as it did with her parents. There was also a chance of being heard. In her parents' suite, they were left relatively alone, as they were very important to the emperor. Keladry, meanwhile, had no reason to be left alone, and was therefore constantly bothered by her friends and neighbors.

A constant visitor to her rooms was Shinko, or Cricket, and Yuki. A few years after her parents had returned to Tortall, Kel had discovered that Cricket was in fact a second princess! This had come as quite a shock, as Shinko had been her childhood friend.

_Kel had first met Cricket in a market place when she was but seven years old. She had been hiding behind her mother's skirts, as she did often when out in public. Many commoners would stop what they were doing and watch this foreigner of the Emperor's Court._

_ There was, however, one girl who just kept on playing. She was running around holding a string, which she was waving behind her. A short while after she had run through, a little dog followed her. He was quite small, and yipped with joy as it chased the colorful string. The girl frequently glanced back at the dog as she made her way, as if assuring herself that he was still following. During one of these periods, before she could turn around, she ran straight into Ilane._

_"Ouf!" the girl cried out as she ran head on into Ilane. She tried to keep from bursting into tears. "I'm awfully sorry, ma'am. I didna mean to crash!"_

_ "Oh," Ilane couldn't help but be sympathetic on this poor street urchin, "that's alright."_

_ "But I shoulda been watching where I was going, ma'am, the blame's all mine."_

_ "No, no," Ilane tried to keep the pity from her face in front of the crowd, "Just run along and try and stay out of the way."_

_ "Thank you very much, ma'am, I'll try and return the favor someday." And with that, the girl was off, her little dog following the string._

_ It was at this moment that Kel knew that if she ever came across this girl again, she would try and be friends._

Though Shinko was normally quiet and serene, this was only when she was in public. When she was with her friends, or masquerading as a commoner on the street, she was very energetic and hyper. Though it would not appear that she was anything but indifferent, those close to her could always tell when she was excited or sad.

_"Kel, is there a boy that you like?" This was often a question that Shinko would ask when the conversation got dull. Kel would always put up a fight, and deny any feelings. One thing that Shinko was known for was for stirring up and getting excited by the smallest bit of gossip. The same went for Yuki, as long as it concerned boys._

_ "No!" Kel protested, all the while starting to blush a faint pink._

_ "Kel, is there a boy that you love?" Yuki threw in almost as an afterthought._

_ "There is most definitely not, and even if there was I wouldn't tell you!" Kel was starting to become so flustered that she pulled out her fan to keep them from probing further._

_ "Come on, Kel! There's nothing to talk about!" The second princess was never one to laze about. Currently she was trying very hard not to jump up and down at the prospect of finally getting something out of the steel walls of Keladry of Mindelan._

_ "We know you're hiding something!" Yuki's eyes were dancing. "Are you sure you don't want to tell us? You know we'll get it out of you eventually!"_

_ "You guys never do give up, do you?" Kel looked like she was about to faint from embarrassment "Fine, I'll tell!"_

_ "Ooh! Finally, Kel gives me something to work with!" Though the Emperor frowned upon it, Shinko often embroidered the dresses that she ordered from the seamstress, rather than get someone else to do it. Now that she would know the man that Kel wanted to draw the attention of, she could embroider Kel's dresses with the things that that specific man was known to like._

_ All right, here goes, Kel. "Though you may not believe me, as it seems very implausible and it has not been very long, I am currently courting Shang."_

_ "Shang!" Yuki was astonished. Though she had always had high hopes for her friend, Shang was one of the most desirable men in the Emperor's Court. "When are you going to make this public?"_

_ "I'm not sure. We are taking it slow and do not want to alert people yet. We will make ourselves known when we feel we are ready."_

_ "I'm proud of you Kel!" Yuki was indeed very happy for her friend, though slightly fearful. There were many notorious men in Court, yet there were a few that none were sure about._

Suddenly the gong sounded, signaling the end of the meditation period. Kel was glad it had rung when it had. The rest of that memory was too painful to go through a second time.

**Thanks so much for supporting my story! It might be a while before I update again, because I have exams coming up soon and I have to study!**

**Hope you liked it!**


	3. Unsuspected news and training

**So thanks everyone for the reviews! They really do help you keep writing! By the way, the characters are a little (ok, a lot) OOC, but I tried to make it fit with the story.**

Kel walked slowly down to a clearing that she had discovered a couple months back. It was one of the places where she could let go and just be herself, without hiding all of the time.

She slowly drew out her shukusen, and practiced her throwing technique. Although she was already considered one of the best at shukusen throwing among the imperial ladies, Kel always wanted to get better. It was not that she minded not being the best, but she would always strive to improve on her own record.

After practicing for an hour, Kel made her way back to her rooms. Inside, she found Yuki sitting on a chair in the corner. It was one of the few pieces of furniture in the room. Yuki was always trying to convince Kel that even though most Yamanis didn't put much in their rooms, the only people that came in her's were Kel, Shinko and Yuki. Sadly, Kel did not agree.

Too many people could find out about her by looking at her rooms. This was why the only things in it were a chair (which Yuki was currently in), a table for her Yamani lucky cats, a mat for sleeping and a basin for washing. She could have added a fireplace, but was convinced that if her training teachers could sit in the rain for hours on end, she could endure the cold. Sometimes she would regret this, at night when it was near Midwinter.

Whenever she got too cold, she would find her way to Yuki's rooms, as she was not as Yamani dedicated as Kel. Sometimes she would fight through a blizzard just to make it safely.

Yuki looked up when Kel entered the chamber, and gently placed a book down on the table, careful to avoid knocking anything down.

"Kel," she began, "You know that the Emperor must plan a new engagement with the Tortallan prince, because of the other princess falling ill?"

"Yes, I do know that." Kel was beginning to wonder what this had to do with her. Yuki wasn't a hidden princess in disguise, was she?

"Well," Yuki appraised Kel's expression, which betrayed her worry, no matter her Yamani training, "The Emperor has decided to send Shinko."

Kel felt that she would faint from shock. Shinko was going to be forced into an arranged marriage? She had always hated the idea, and Kel wondered how this was going over with her friend. It dawned on her that the Emperor must really want this marriage to work, as he was sending a second rank princess, instead of a fourth or fifth rank princess.

Yuki watched her friend through the silent battle, and as she was very good at seeing people's emotions, she watched Kel go through shock, surprise, disbelief and finally anger, where it stayed.

"He can't do this!" Kel raged, "He can't force Shinko into this marriage! I think she would rather die! Is she running away? Are we helping her run away? Where are we going to live?"

As Kel paused to take a breath, Yuki stopped her from going any farther as she started to explain. "Shinko is not running away, we are not helping her run away, and we are going to live in Tortall."

"Wait!" Kel's voice was soft now as she though this over. "You mean that Shinko is going to go along with this plan?"

"Yes, she is."

"What are we going to do? You said _we _are going to live in Tortall? Why would _we _go anywhere?" If possible, Kel was even more confused now than she was before.

"We are going to go with her as her escorts, and we are going to stay in Tortall with her."

"How did Shinko get the Emperor to agree to that?"

Yuki knew this was going to be harder to explain to Kel than it had been to her family. This was one of the reasons that she had put it off until now.

"Shinko reasoned with him, and told him that it might be easier for her to get adjusted if she had a few people that she knew. So, we will be part of her escorting party, but when all of the other escorts leave to come back here, we will stay to help her get adjusted. And if anything comes up, we can also help to defend Shinko because we have trained with our shukusens and our glaives. Speaking of which, want to go for glaive practice now before training? That way we will have an excuse not to do Darichi's warm-ups!" Yuki decided to try and change the subject, as it would take hours to explain everything to Kel, and she would just keep asking questions.

"We're going to have to do the warm-up anyways." Kel mumbled as she reached solemnly for her glaive.

Although Kel was one of the best shukusen users, Yuki was _the_ best glaive user, apart from Darichi, their training master, herself. Kel had trouble just defending herself, much less actually trying to hit Yuki. All she could see of her friend's weapon was a constant blur as she turned it, spun it and lunged. Kel ended up on the ground, Yuki's glaive's sharp blade just barely touching the base of her throat.

"All better!" Yuki called out as she walked away, slowing down slightly for Kel to catch up.

"Not fair, you have an extra six years practicing!" Kel said as an excuse for her defeat.

"Yes, but during those six years, I hadn't been allowed to touch a glaive, much less try and use one!" Yuki retorted. "Now go get ready, you wouldn't want to be late for evening training!" Yuki almost waltzed down the hall. Not only had she avoided the subject of Shinko for an hour and a half, but she had also had fun beating Kel. Again. Sometimes she wished she could fight against someone that was a challenge.

Kel was okay with the glaive, but her biggest advantage was her endurance. If she could last long enough that she could wear out her opponent, she had a better advantage. When people got desperate, they would try and do low cuts. Since she was taller, people thought that she might have trouble reaching down to defend herself lower. However, Kel was always ready for this, as their training master had beaten her multiple times with this trick, until Kel had gotten tired of it and learned to defend herself better.

While she was thinking, Kel hurried to her room to get ready for training. As she had suspected, Darichi made them do the warm-up, even after they explained that they had already trained. To make sure that everyone had warmed up properly, he assigned partners to do practice matches.

After two hours of training, Kel was too tired to attend supper, so she went straight to her rooms. She filled up the washing basin, and soaked in the water until it was cold. She then went straight to her bed, where she fell asleep almost instantly.

**Hope you like it, and if you have any ideas, let me know!**


	4. Dreams Part 1

**Disclaimer: All characters and settings and anything else that is found in the Tamora Pierce books belongs to Tamora Pierce. All else, such as the plot and Shang (the person), belongs to me.**

**Sorry it took so long to put out, as I said before, I have exams right now, so it's been a little stressful with studying. Hopefully I'll get the next one out faster!**

Kel had been hoping for a peaceful sleep with no dreams whatsoever after all her work. Sadly, she got no such luck. Falling asleep instantly, as soon as she closed her eyes she was assaulted by pictures she would rather not see.

_Suddenly the gong sounded, signaling the end of the meditation period. Kel was glad it had rung when it had. The rest of that memory was too painful to go through a second time. _Too bad for Kel, she would have to.

_Kel walked down the passageway toward the main hall, where she was to eat dinner. Her head was full of thoughts of Shang._

_ One of the only things she knew about him was that he was named after the famed Shang warriors, as he had been born with the mark of Shang – a small birthmark of an animal on his right shoulder._

_ Shang's birthmark was one of an eagle. This symbolized that if he was chosen by to try for Shang, and he survived the long and hard training, he would be the eagle. _

_ Currently he was training with the Shang Phoenix, who was staying at the palace for the time being. When the time came for her to move on, Shang would go with her, to follow the Phoenix wherever she went._

_ Entering the dining hall, Kel looked around until she spotted her courtier. She made her way over to the table after retrieving her meal, and sat next to Shang._

_ Her leg rested lightly against his, and he reached over to gently squeeze her hand. Kel squeezed it back, hiding her joy at finally being with someone. She didn't hide it solely for the reason that Yamanis 'had no emotions', but also because their relationship was not yet public – except to Shinko and Yuki._

_ Kel had heard from her friends what it felt like to be connected to someone on an emotional level, as more than friends. She had never before believed that you could feel very warm and tingly, but at the same time as if water was being washed over you. Now she did._

_ It just felt _right _being with Shang, as if it was meant to be. She often wondered what would happen to them when he had to leave with the Phoenix._

_ She enjoyed her dinner, partially because the whole time, she was sitting close to Shang, and feeling his presence next to her. If it weren't for that, she would have been bored to tears, as she was not particularly interested in the conversation the others were holding._

_ During irregular intervals, Kel would put in a sentence or two, to make it seem as if she were paying attention and listening. If someone had asked her, she would have had no idea what was happening. All of her concentration was on the feeling of Shang so close to her. _

_ That is exactly what happened. Yuki had noticed her friend's distracted look and her gaze then turned to the gap – or lack of – between Kel and Shang. She decided to be cruel and try to bring their relationship into the open._

_ "Kel," Yuki asked innocently, "what do you think?"_

_ When Kel's eyes lost their blank look, she was slightly disoriented; Shang was still distracting her by lightly tickling her palm with his fingertips. "What?" She had lost track of the conversation, and was now trying to refocus._

_ "Oh, you know," Shinko said mischievously, catching onto Yuki's train of thought, "what do you think about it?"_

_ "About what? Oh…" She understood where they were coming from now. She glared at Yuki – without showing any emotion to anyone else. Yuki just looked back, slightly lifting her eyebrows, which a foreigner would not have noticed. Sadly, everybody at the table turned to look at Kel._

_ While they were all staring at her, Kel started glaring at both of her friends, who had by now taken out their fans to hide their laughter._

_ Kel decided to follow their example, taking out her own fan to hide her anger and confusion. "I'm sorry, but I had lost track of the conversation, care to remind me?"_

_ "Oh, yes," Shinko had decided it was her turn to tease Kel, "we were just discussing the possible men that are currently at court."_

_ "And as all three of us are currently single…"_

_ "We thought that maybe we could set you up!"_

_ Kel thought she might die of embarrassment. Now all of them would think that she was incapable of getting her own men, she needed her friends to match her up. Kel, who had softened her glare before, put it back up. "Of course, but shouldn't we get one for you first? After all, you haven't had one in how long?"_

_ "And how long has it been since you have had one, might I ask?" They really did seem in a 'time-to-torture-Kel mood._

_ "That is a personal question that I would rather not answer."_

_ "Meaning…"_

_ "That Kel has a man that she's not telling us about!" They also seemed to be in the mood to finish each other's sentences._

_ "Maybe, and maybe not, but that is none of your business!" With that, Kel all but stalked out of the hall and to her rooms, not bothering to wait when she heard footsteps follow her out._

**Again, sorry to have you wait for so long! This is also just part one of the Dreams section, the next chapter will be part two! I hope you liked it! By the way, I already have an idea for the second part; I just didn't want you to have to wait too long between the chapters.**

**In my introduction chapter, I asked if you would rather have shorter chapters, updated more or longer chapters, updated less. I'm going to put a poll on my profile about that, so if you **_**do **_**want something to change, let me know.**

**Reviews are always appreciated, but you don't have to if you don't want to. If you don't like the way the story is going, PM me or stop reading!**

**Thanks a lot, and I'll try to get the next chapter out faster!**


	5. Hiatus

Hi everyone,

I'm really sorry about this because I know I hate it when one of the stories I like puts one of these chapters up and then I get excited and then the disappointment is so much worse.

I'm just doing this so that you guys know that I'm not likely to continue this story anytime soon. I started it 2 years ago and then stopped when things got busy and I just never started up again.

Now that I've reread it, I really don't remember where I was going with the story, and I haven't read the books in so long that if I did post anything it would be very inaccurate.

Again, I'm really sorry, but don't expect any new chapters. In the very distant future, I may start up again, but it's not very likely.

Ugh, I hate doing this, but I just have no more motivation for writing this.

**20/11/2012 NEW UPDATE! So, the lovely Ortholeine has offered to continue this story, so look on her profile for whatever comes next! :D**


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